I could not get my fill of looking. There should be a song for women to sing at this moment or a prayer to recite. But perhaps there is none because there are no words strong enough to name that moment.

The other reason women wanted daughters was to keep their memories alive.

The story it told was unremarkable: a tale of love found and lost- the oldest story in the world. The only story.

My heart is a ladle of sweet water brimming over.

Of all life's pleasures, only love owes no debt to death.

One of his tears fell in my mouth, where it became a blue sapphire, source of strength, source of strength and eternal hope.

I lived through a classic publishing story. My editor was fired a month before the book came out. The editor who took it over already had a full plate. It was never advertised. We didn't get reviewed in any major outlets.